'Amazing Race' Recap: "Business in the Front, Party in the Back"

11 new teams take off on another race around the world for $1 million—and the chance to choose their friends early on

Amazing Race’s 22nd season saw 11 teams starting in the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles Calif. Five teams of friends, three teams of couples, two teams of siblings and one father/son team received information on a new twist at the starting line. In addition to the Express Pass they win for themselves if they are the first team to cross the finish line, they will also win a second to present to another team of their choice before the end of the fourth leg.

Teams started by racing to LAX to board flights to Bora Bora. The first five teams would be able to board a flight that would arrive a full hour before the second. The first five were Chuck and Wynona (Married couple), Pam and Winnie (Best Friends), Idries and Jamil (Twin Doctors), Dave and Connor (cancer survivors and father/son) and Jessica and John (dating). While waiting for their connecting flight, the five teams formed a tentative alliance, deciding that the first teams to check in at the Pit Stop would automatically give the second Express Pass to the team that checked in second.

Once arriving in Bora Bora, teams encountered a roadblock, where one team member had to sky dive from 10,000 feet in the air, while their partner took a water taxi to the landing zone.

After beating the roadblock, teams traveled to Eden Beach, where they found another roadblock — they had to search among 400 sandcastles to find their next clue, while enduring scorching temperatures, and rebuilding any sandcastles they destroyed in the process.

After the sandcastle challenge, teams had to assemble a canoe, which they would then take over to the Pit Stop.

First to the mat were Jessica and John, the dating couple from Huntington Beach, Calif. Bates and Anthony, professional hockey players from Raleigh N.C. were second. In order, they were followed by: Dave and Connor (the cancer surviving father and son team from Salt Lake City, Utah), Pam and Winnie (best friends from Los Angeles), Mona and Beth (Roller Derby moms from Colorado), Joey and Megan (YouTube hosts and friends from Los Angeles), Chuck and Winona (married couple from Daphne Ala.) and Idries and Jamil (twin doctors from Chicago, Ill.).

At the sandcastle roadblock, Max and Katie (newlyweds from Buffalo, N.Y.), Caroline and Jennifer (country singers), and Matt and Daniel (firemen from South Carolina), all decided to take the four-hour penalty for not completing the roadblock. After the firefighters’ canoe tipped over en route to the Pit Stop, they finished last behind Max and Katie and Caroline and Jennifer.